Waiting For Tomorrow
by Kaye Swan
Summary: Ever felt so hopeless you drove yourself mad? Ever felt like the ground was slipping away underneath your feet? After Castle gets shot, Kate's left with guilt. Guilt to left Castle on his own. Without her.
1. Taken Down

Going forward from Target and Hunt, but with a twist.  
Castle is hurt trying to safe Alexis. Kate is still in New York and can't get a hold of him.

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**Taken Down**

When Castle is brought to the mansion where Volkov is keeping Alexis hostage he is happy to see his daughter, Little does he know that his father, Jackson Hunt, is keeping an eye out for him. He followed his son over the past years. He knew he had a son, and he also knew Alexis was his grandfather. Jackson told him to get Alexis out, but when Castle got caught the plan failed. At least that was the plan. Volkov needed to think Castle failed, or in this case, Hunt had failed. But that wasn't true. Hunt set up a plan to keep Alexis and Castle safe, but little does he know, Volkov had a back-up plan as well. The plan was that the walkie-talkie exploded, but Volkov knows Hunt better than that and lets one of his men do the talking. At that point, the walkie-talkie blew up right in the face of the man who was talking for Volkov to Hunt. Leaving Volkov to shoot Castle, right in the eyes of his daughter. "Dad? Dad!" Alexis screamed, but she was stuck in a cage and couldn't do anything. Volkov opened the cage and told Alexis to walk. He was taking her away and leaves Castle to die. "Dad?!" Tears streaming down her face, resisting to Volkov. Castle was down and Alexis disappeared again. Volkov and his men leave the mansion and go down South. The plan is to cross the French border so they could enter Spain and leave a dead trail at that end.

"Rick? Rick?" Hunt sat next to his son, on the ground, holding him in his arms. "You can't die you hear me?" Hunt looked like a big man who could overcome anything, but the death of his son would kill him. He holds pressure on the wound while he calls for an ambulance. Than, he grabs Castle's phone and searches the number of Kate. He had followed them so he knew they were dating.  
He loved a person once too, and he thought it was the right thing to do to let the person Castle loves know he's hurt.  
"Castle? Are you okay?" Kate asks straight away when she picks up the phone. She was standing in the precinct alongside Espo and Ryan who looked worried. "Castle?" Her face had a worried look too, because the person on the other end of the line wasn't answering her back. "It's not Castle." They kept quiet for a moment. You could hear a pin drop. "Kate?" Espo asked, but she stood still. "Who is this?" she said a few minutes later. "I can't tell you who I am, but I can tell you you can trust me."  
"Trust you? Why would I do that? Where's Castle?"  
"He is.. He's been shot." Hunt thought it would be better to come forward straight away. Kate was a cop so she could handle it. "What? Shot? When?" Shocked by the news, she sat down. She sat down so hard the chair was about to pass out. "Whoa, Kate, you okay?" Ryan asked when he lend her a hand to sit straight and not fall off at the side. "Look, you need to come to Paris, I will explain everything to you there." As soon as he finished that sentence, he hung up. He left Kate stranded. She had a staring look in her face. She just stared. No word came out of her mouth. She was just sitting there, with the phone still in here hand. "Kate?" Ryan asked. "I need to go to Paris." Espo and Ryan look at each other. "You need what? Paris? Kate, why?" As soon as the word Paris came up, Gates walked in to the room. She looked at Kate and she knew it wasn't good. She knew about Castle and Kate. She had to be an idiot not too. "Beckett?" Kate looked up at her boss. "Everything okay?' Kate shook here head, got up and walked out of the precinct without saying a word.


	2. Paris

Sorry for the long wait! I hope you enjoy the next part of 'Waiting For Tomorrow'.

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**Paris**

Gates looked at Ryan and Esposito who didn't know more then she did. "She said she had to go to Paris."  
"Paris? Why would she go to Paris?"  
"She didn't say why." Ryan looked worried, and so did Espo. Gates knew she couldn't do anything about it. She knew Kate longer then just today. Normally she would order her to come back. Not to fly to Paris, but this time, something was holding her back. They knew Alexis is kidnapped and that they took her to Paris. But what they didn't know is why Kate suddenly left in a hurry to go there.

When Beckett landed in Paris, she had no idea where to go to. She didn't know who to look for, and she didn't know how Castle was doing. Was he still alive? She promised herself, after thinking that, not to go down that road. "Stay optimistic Kate," she told herself.  
"Miss Beckett?"  
"Yes?" She turned around to an older person. Male. He wore a hat. "Do I know you?" she asked staring at the person in front of her. "No, you do not. But I know your boyfriend." Kate's look turned big as the word 'boyfriend' came up. "Rick? Who are you?" With a little hesitation he had to tell her who he was. "You have to promise me something. Never bring what I'm about to tell you up again. After this is all over, I'm dead to the world." It was silent for a while but Kate nodded silently. "I'm Rick's father."  
"Wait, what? His father?"  
"Yes."  
"How the hell should I trust you? First you come to me, knowing my name apparently and now you say your Rick's father. I can't believe this." Hunt knew Kate, he had been spying on her and his son since Castle was a little kid, and when he met Kate 4 years ago.  
"I'm following my sons since the day he was born. I know he has a daughter, Alexis, and I also know she's kidnapped. Castle got shot trying to safe her." He paused. "I also know Castle started working with you 4 years ago when he first joined the precinct staff for his books. You're his muse." Kate hated that word. She told Castle never to call her his muse again. Now, Kate knew Hunt can be trusted. He knows things about Castle she probably doesn't even know. "Can you take me to him?"  
He nodded. "Yes, follow me."  
As they walk out of the airport, they get in a cab. Hunt didn't want to take the risk of renting a car, afraid to be found. His job came with a high price, and he had to pay it all his life. He couldn't risk to put Kate in danger. She might be cop, but she's a NYPD cop, not a Paris cop. It was out of her jurisdiction to do something when something might happen.  
Both remained silent the whole trip to the hospital. Hunt had left the mansion before paramedics came to the scene. But as a spy, he knows everything, so he also knew to which hospital Rick was taken. When the car stopped in front of the main entrance they got out of the car and walked inside. Hunt also knew in which room Castle was and when he saw an empty bed, he feared the worse. As a nurse walked by, he grabbed the poor woman by her arm. "Where is the person who is supposed to be in this room?" She looked at Hunt. "I don't know," was the only English sentence she seemed to know. He let the nurse go and looked around. Kate knew exactly what he was going to do, because she had the same idea. When the coast was clear, she looked in the computer to see Castle's name. "He's taken in to surgery an hour ago."  
"That's impossible, they operated on him right away when he came to the hospital. There must be come kind of mistake." Kate's fear began to take over. Fear what might happen to Castle if they might be too late. She told herself not to go down that road, but after seeing and hearing this she wasn't so sure of herself anymore. As a cop she knew what could happen if you weren't on time. "Please be okay," she whispered to herself.


	3. Safe & Sound 1

Days went by and Kate was still in Paris with Hunt. Castle was still missing and there was no sign of Alexis either. Being outside her jurisdiction was hard, because she couldn't do anything to help. To find Castle. The French police was working on two cases, of a missing father and daughter. There were no leads. These people look like professionals. People who know what they're doing. But they have to mess up some time. Hunt was busy looking for his son. As a spy he doesn't have a jurisdiction so he could do whatever he wanted. But Kate, just sat there, doing nothing. Feeling confused why her body was so dumb. Normally the adrenaline would pump through her body, but this time…  
She knew what could happen, and she might have to herself not to go down this road, but she had been telling herself that for the last few days. She'd gone down that road. Deep down she knew Castle was okay, but her head was telling her otherwise.  
Kate knew she couldn't loose Castle. Her life would be over if she did. After four years they're finally together and she wasn't ready to let go after a year. She wasn't ready and planning on leaving, ever.  
Kate stopped thinking when there was an envelope slide under her hotel room. She walked over to the door to see through the peephole if anyone was there, but no sign of anyone or anything. She closed the door and picked up the envelope. There was nothing written on it, no name, nothing. Not even hers. She opened the envelope slowly afraid of what she'd find. It was a picture of Castle holding the today's newspaper. It was reassuring because now she knows he's alive. 'Oh, Castle,' she whispered to herself, holding the photo close to her heart.  
A few minutes later Hunt walked in and found Kate standing there like a statue. "Kate?" he asked with a worried look on his face. "Kate?!" he touched her shoulder to get her out of her trance. "What's that?" Hunt asked. Quietly she gave him the picture. "Who delivered this?" Hunt looked surprised. "I don't know, someone slid it under the door. I opened the door to see if anyone was there, but nothing." She paused. "Luckily we know he's alive." There is hope, and Kate knew that. "Can we find out where he's held?" Hunt knew she was redirecting to the picture. She had done this before. Asking people if they knew where people were held after receiving a clue. If they look close they might find something helpful to get Castle out of there. She knew Alexis was in danger too, but there was no sign of her. Not a photo, nothing. As hard as her decision was, she decided to focus on Castle first, to get him out. Castle must know more, and with that information, they might be able to find Alexis.  
"I might know someone who could help." He grabbed his phone and dialed a dumber of someone who's able to help. He helped Hunt in previous cases, with success.  
"Jasper, it's Hunt, I need you to do something, can we meet in an hour? I'm bringing someone."  
"Sure." Jasper hang up. He was not the kind of person who spoke much. He got up in most of his work. "We have a meeting in an hour, this is the address. We have to go separate. Give me a 5 minute head start." Without asking Kate nodded and watched Hunt leave to hotel room.  
When she arrived at the address Hunt gave her, she looked up to the building. It was old, it smelled weird and it looked like it could fall apart any minute. She followed the direction Hunt also gave her. She knocked on the door and Jasper opened quietly. "Just come in, he doesn't care who you are, he just wants to help. I already shown him the picture. He's sure he's able to find the location where they hold Rick."  
"It can take a while, but it can also be done in 5 minutes." Jasper said, not looking at Kate or Hunt. He was busy screening buildings in Paris from what the picture was showing. After an half hour wait, Jasper spoke again. "I found the building." Hunt stood up and looked at the address on the screen. "Where is it?" Kate asked. She didn't know where the address was so she assumed Hunt did. "I don't know, but Jasper does." Without saying a word, Jasper printed out a map from where they were now to the location Castle is held. "Thank you Jasper." He nodded and Kate and Hunt left the building.  
After a twenty minute drive they stopped in front of an old factory. It was huge. Jasper wasn't able to give the exact location, so they had to pull with the stings they have. "Are you sure you can help Rick?" Hunt nodded. "This is a bomb, it goes off on distance. I will be wearing the remote, so when you give the sign, when Rick and you are safe, I can push this green button here." Kate didn't had to ask what would happen next. She had seen a few bombs in her career and this one wasn't any different.


End file.
